Storm Warning
by FaziO
Summary: Set at the apex of 9.23, Jackson & April - one time best friends & lovers, now broken up, trying to mend a broken friendship and both in different relationships. How do they move on from each other or can the intervention of circumstance help them find their way back to each other ?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my first attempt at not only GA fiction but also fanfiction itself. It's a story line I've been thinking of and initially thought a one-shot but there's places to go to still in this story. Please let me know if its a SL you'd like to read and especially if I should continue it. All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the amazing Shonda Rhimes. Hope you enjoy it !**

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><p>She stood and stacked shelves, quite forcefully. Why was Hunt treating her this way? Shiskabob was HER surgery and she'd made every right call, how could storm prep trump that surgery? Owen was sidelining her and even though she'd stood up to him, demanding he let stay for the surgery, which he'd point-blank refused, beneath it all was a very real hurt – her mentor had no faith in her. Attuned as she always was to his presence, she turned around, her thoughts and castigation's still swirling through her mind. His excitement was palpable, she really hadn't seen him this exhilarated in quite a while, probably not since the very last occasion he'd been in the OR, well, to be honest, his comings and goings was not something she'd been privy to in a long time. The last time she'd seen his eyes so lit up he'd been lifting her off her feet, kissing her thoroughly and promising her a huge freaking wedding in a field with butterflies – or perhaps still the morning on that emotional roller coaster of a day when he made that proposal, in the on-call room, when she'd gazed down into his beautiful eyes as she climaxed.<p>

"Stop it!" she whispered to herself, shut down those memories immediately, she thought - those eyes, that smile, that body all belonged to Stephanie now and if she let down her walls for even one tiny, minuscule second all the pain of losing him, losing them would come flooding right back, rendering her incapable of speech, thought and action. Yeah, in her more lucid moments she admitted to herself she loved him - totally, unequivocally. But he'd moved on from April Kepner…

He strode briskly down the corridor, pumped up with adrenaline, excitement in every step, eyes peeled looking for the one person who understood him, who was always there in his moments of triumph …and defeat. He spotted her easily – she's like a beacon to him and not primarily because of her red hair. She was stacking shelves, which he found odd to begin with, and her irritation with the task was quite obvious. Her dimpled smile, which he has always adored, was nowhere in evidence. He knew that to many of their colleagues she appeared to be a rambling mess with no filter, saying everything that popped into her head – a veritable erupting geyser. It still surprised him that not one of their peers could see beyond their own narrow perceptions of her behavior to her character, and Alex was the worst, needling her to such a degree that he sometimes felt that blood was about to be spilt and it wasn't going to be hers. If any one of them bothered to look beyond the tips of their noses they would realize exactly what an intelligently perceptive person April really was, how observant she was to not only her surroundings but also the people within her orbit. She was layered and nuanced and he valued her opinion above all others, including those of his mother and grandfather. She had a wonderful bed-side manner too, because she gave all of her attention (and her soft heart) to the person in front of her, who at this moment happened to be Jackson Avery…

"Hey, I just closed a mid-line facial cleft, primary surgeon" he said, followed immediately by "What is wrong ?" when he noticed her obvious irritation.

"I don't know" she utters with a hint of frustration, "Hunt is actively keeping me from surgeries, I don't know if he thinks that I'm going to fail my boards again or maybe he's just finally realized that I make a better secretary then a surgeon" she exasperatedly voices.

"So I'll talk to him" he says, still with that undercurrent of excitement.

"No" she softly replies, "don't…don't…I don't want you to fight for me"

Before he can wrap his head around that statement a nurse approaches with news of incoming trauma and April voices her discontent with "Great, something else I can get kicked off of".

The whole situation seemed weird to Jackson, he knew that April was not want to make spurious allegations, so why would Hunt keep her away from a surgery that would not only help her in preparation for her second attempt at the Boards but also unfairly keep her away from a surgery that was, by rights, hers to perform. He also noticed a feeling of anticipation in the air, in the people swiftly walking past him in the corridor – it all seemed incongruent with the tension one would normally associate with a severe storm warning. So he followed the hoard, all of whom, surprisingly, seemed to be heading to one area, the Trauma bay.

No use crying over spilt milk or lost surgeries, she thought but she needed to remove all that from her mind, every patient required her total and focused attention. She swiftly approached the stretcher.

"What have we got?" she asked.

"48 year old male complaining of tightness in his chest, he says he feels like his heart is going to burst" responded Nicole, Matthew's partner and fellow paramedic, who happened to be partnered with Scott that day. April was so focused on the casualty that she failed to notice the smirk that Nicole didn't bother to hide.

"We're going to take care of you sir "she reassured the patient when suddenly he started breathing heavily.

"Is he seizing?" she questioned but the paramedics were surprisingly mum about additional patient information and while she was still processing that she swore that she could suddenly hear music playing.

Before her brain could fully process that this was not a trauma case at all, the patient hopped of the gurney and started the dance move 'Walk like an Egyptian', immediately copied by Nicole and Scott. The doors to the second ambulance in the bay burst open and April spotted some familiar faces in between the strangers who started dancing around her.

It was a Flash Mob and April started giggling helplessly as she realized that Matthew had planned this for her.

Jackson pushed through the crowd of residents, attendings and nurses gathered outside, who the heck was seeing to the patients, he thought just as he spotted exactly what sort of spectacle had everyone so spellbound. All around him his friends and colleagues were all acting cool and unfazed but secretly enjoying the very catchy musical number being danced out in front of them. His attention zeroed in immediately to her musical laughter, she was mesmerized by that dork and troop twirling all around her and he immediately started seeing red. Heck no, he was not going to stand here and watch that damn paramedic propose to her, how did they get so messed up that he was oblivious to the lead up to this moment – weren't they each others go to person for everything, how did he not know that she & Matthew were so serious ? Jumbled thoughts ran through his mind, she belonged to him dammit, it was his duty to protect her, Mercy West forever…and before he could calmly analyze the situation he acted. Before the mob could gently lead her to a nurse's chair that, like everything else, just magically appeared, he bent down lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carried her away….


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I can't tell you how humbled I am by your positive reception to this work of fiction, thank you so much to all of you that have read, reviewed and are following this story. To all the friends I've made here on Fanfiction, thank you so much for your advice and valuable input, especially to M, with the so wise words "write from the heart". So here goes, chapter 2, please continue to let me know what you think. All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the fabulous Shonda Rhimes. I've tried to add a little humor, hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>"Jackson, what are you doing? Put me down. Did you see what Matthew just did? How could you just take me away from there? Where are you taking me? I can't see anything, put me down! Jackson? Jackson, answer me, dammit, I'm getting dizzy and the only view I have here is your wobbly butt. Jackson, really, come on, I have to go back, what will Matthew be thinking, Oh God what will everyone be thinking? I have to go find Matthew. Put me down, NOW! Jackson!"<p>

"Okay, okay, calm down. Wait, did you just say wobbly butt, wobbly as in jello? Did you just call me fat?"

"Well if the Nikes fit…Come on Jackson, I really can't have an upside-down conversation with you, I mean, you up and me down, I mean…you know what I mean, just put me down!"

Jackson had mastered the one-armed carry with April, she was such a light-weight so he never really needed to expand much effort in picking her up and since she'd been such a willing participant in their romps she usually anchored herself to his body, leaving him with a free hand to deliciously roam over her exposed parts. But, this was not one of their romp's, they were in fact as far away from romping with each other as it was possible to be, or not to be, as the case was. So he gently lifted his free left arm and placed it onto the middle of her back and with his right arm behind her knees he maneuvered her body slightly down, swung her around and into his arms. In anticipation of being put down and with such a height disparity between them, she first needed to steady herself and it was the most natural thing in the world for her to twine her arms around his neck. He couldn't let her go.

He has this ability to concentrate on a person totally and when he focuses those laser-beamed eyes on you, there's nowhere that you can hide – you're stripped bare for him to see, your vulnerabilities, your weaknesses all available for his perusal but what April failed to realize was that she has the same magical effect on him, he was raw, exposed and equally vulnerable to her, something that she, in her incomprehension, totally missed.

To minimalize the effects of a freak out, he decided to carry on their conversation in the same vein,

"I really can't let you go" he murmured.

"Whaaat?" she stuttered, feeling her heart swell with hope, did he mean what she thought he meant…

"Not until you apologize for the fat crack" he quips.

Unwitting laughter bubbles out of her throat, the pealing sound so infectious that, as usual, he can't help but join in – he's never been able to resist her melodic laugh even on the very rare occasion when he's been the punchline. True, he tends to be the one that usually metes it out, I mean he's renowned for his sarcastic wit, but she is more than capable of dishing it out too, although in a surprisingly subtle way. How could he ever forget the first time they were together and their conversation after?

"Don't you have to get your pencil?" she'd asked, not to be funny mind you but their euphoria made it seem hilarious and they both giggled through a slightly uncomfortable 'after'.

"Jackson", she sighed once her laughter had waned, "Why am I still here?"

"Well, I don't hear an apology", he lightly continues.

"Well, you're not going to" she returns, squirming in his arms.

"Really, so I need to start going back to the gym huh?" he carries on with the delicate questions knowing that the big guns were coming out soon.

"You know I'm just kidding, wobbly!" she laughs as she swats his chest with the back of her hand and continues, "You're so vain, Pretty Boy, you know your butt is delic…uh…just put me down, Jack..son.."

He doesn't bother to hide his smirk but taking pity on her he decides to respond to her first statement, "Oh no, you didn't just go back there" he teases, but immediately notices the shift in her expression – 'back there' is where they had to go to, time now for the tough conversation, he thought.

"When were you going to tell me how serious it is with you and the Paramedic?" he jumped right in. "We're best friends, aren't we and this is how I find out, when he's proposing to you?" he starts of calmly but his voice quickly escalates in strength and speed but not volume, because the angrier he gets, the softer his tone becomes, somehow seems more lethal than shouting and screaming.

"Oh you mean like when you told me about you and Stephanie?" she fires back, "and he hasn't proposed, you stopped it dead in its tracks. Why would you do that?" she exclaims – the ball's very firmly back in his court.

He just shakes his head, how have they reached this point, both so stubborn, neither one willing to be the first to bend.

"Why does this bother you so much? You made it very clear that you've moved on, so what, you just want me to live in limbo, pining away for you while you rub it in my face that not only are you happy with your intern but that I am so inconsequential to you that I don't even merit respect enough for you to not get it on with her in on-call rooms at MY place of work. Not only damn unprofessional but damn disrespectful and so humiliating but you know what, I got it, I got the message, we were obviously a mistake and you never really wanted me, JUST PUT ME DOWN JACKSON!" she screamed the last bit accompanying it with a few hard smacks to his chest.

"Whoa, how could you think that, much less say it and NO I'm not putting you down, you'll just escape and with it our friendship". Dumfounded he just stares at her, unable to say anything else until he realizes that with all the squirming she's doing she'll soon be able to jump out of his arms and flee and yet again the situation between them will remain unresolved and actually from what she's already spilt, their friendship will forever be unrecoverable. He tightens his hold on her and starts pacing up and down in the tiny confines of the on-call room he'd carried her into, mulling over how to address her very real hurt.

"Why would you think that I never wanted you, of course I wanted you, I even told you that it wasn't just sex, that I had feelings for you, so where is this coming from? And about Stephanie, I told you it isn't serious, we're just having fun" he started, only to be met with a scoff from her.

"What feelings Jackson? You said feelings but then what? We thought I was pregnant, you proposed, I wasn't, you broke up with me and started sleeping with an intern, where are all the feelings in that?" she cries, poking him in the chest with each point she's making.

"Why don't you just admit that you never wanted me, why the hell couldn't you be honest instead of Mr Nice Guy when I kissed you in San Francisco, why couldn't you just tell me that, like everyone else has said, I'm grating and irritating and get on your nerves and that you never wanted me. Believe me I do have some pride, I would never have given you my virginity if I thought that you didn't want to be with me".

He's stunned by the words coming out of her mouth and horrified by the silent tears trickling down her reddened cheeks.

"How could you doubt that I wanted you April, I loved being with you, I wasn't being nice about it I wanted to be with you in San Francisco…and after, I didn't know if you really wanted to be with me, I was bumming out Jesus remember ?"

"Really Jackson, so why did we break up when I wasn't pregnant – although how can you break-up when you're not really in a relationship right? We never even went out, just had sex, my God I can't believe I was that girl, the one desperate enough for a guys attention that all I was to him was convenient sex".

"You were never that April, you were…"

She interrupts him before he can even formulate the thought, "Then why Jackson, why didn't you pick me? Was my inexperience such a turn-off? Why did you choose her over me? Sex with her must be off the charts, please just let me go" she whispers softly, all cried out. "You chose her" she murmurs almost inaudibly the hurt so apparent in her voice that all he wants to do is comfort her.

He leans his forehead onto hers and she sees the sheen in his eyes mirroring her tears.

He whispers softly "You hurt me too April, you didn't want me when I wanted you, I was just the guy you banged in a bathroom stall when you freaked out over your Boards. You were so happy to not be having my baby…"

"No Jackson, I was happy that you wouldn't be trapped in a marriage, then you wouldn't have to resent me and your child, that we would have the opportunity to do everything in the right order, slowly fall in love, be secure in a specialty that you loved, get married and then have a baby. You stepped up when we thought I was pregnant and I'll always love you for that but I never wanted to be your burden, I just wanted to be you love".

"April…" he starts, but once again she interrupts him with the finality of her words.

"I just want you to be happy and maybe I'll be happy too, with Matthew, and you know what I'm discharging you from your 'Mercy West Forever, Best Friend' duties. I'm sorry that I clung to you so much after the shooting but you can be free now, free to be with Stephanie – let her become your friend because that's what I want for you, a great love not someone you have to settle for" and with that goodbye resounding in his ears, she pecks him on the cheek, jumps out of his arms, wipes away her tears, straightens her clothes and leaves him alone to contemplate an existence without her, without even her friendship.

Reflecting on everything that she's said he comes to the realization that she's right, he never showed her that he loves her, everything about her. When did he become such a coward? And while she's never said 'I Love You' directly to him her feelings were kind of obvious, she was the bravest person he knew for she wore her heart on her sleeve for all to see. She loved fully and that's what made her such an awesome doctor but more importantly that's what made her HIS perfect love. He was going to prove it to her – he was going to fight for her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to all of you reading, reviewing and following this story – I truly appreciate the time you take out of your busy lives to follow this fic. Thank you too to all the anons and guest reviewers who I'm unable to thank personally. I sincerely apologize for the time lag between updates, I know how it feels being on the receiving end, lol, but anyway you know real life intervenes…So, I've taken a bit more creative license with this chapter in that I've moved an arrival from an episode prior to 9.23 here, but it will not strain credulity I assure you. Read on and see what I mean…;-) As before all characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the awesome Shonda Rhimes. Hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

He strode briskly down the corridor, so intent on his telephone conversation that he was oblivious to all the staring and whispering.

"I don't care how much it costs, I want it delivered today" he negotiates. He listens to the protests on the other end of the line but firmly maintains his stance, "Yes, I know there's a super storm approaching but this is Seattle, when is it never raining". As he doesn't seem to be making much headway, he appeals to the guys humanity, "Come on man, please, it's a matter of urgency – life and death if you will, it has to be here today" and when even that appeal falls on deaf ears he knows there's only one surefire way to get it here, appeal to the mercenary, "Okay, what will it take for me to get it here today? I'm willing to pay you extra…double your transport costs, but it has to be here today, no later, or no bonus." Receiving his confirmation he happily ends his call – mission 1 accomplished, or at least partly realized. Next, Mission "Almost" Impossible. He needs to find Hunt and convene a meeting of the Board, which is tantamount to herding a flock of recalcitrant sheep to where they don't want to go.

Chief Hunt surprises him. He was very cold at first, it seems that the chief has a soft spot for his Soldier and obviously would approve an Emergency First Responder as a suitable lifetime companion for her. It also explains why April was evicted from the Shishkabob Surgery – Hunt was apparently in cahoots with Matthew on the whole flash mob proposal and his contribution was keeping April available to "Incoming Trauma" and out of the OR. However, history does trump commonality and Jackson has, albeit slowly, managed to earn the Trauma Attendings trust – well enough to get him to listen to him and thereafter corral the Grey-Sloan Board Members into a meeting where he confidently gets their unanimous approval. Although to be perfectly frank he doesn't really need their endorsement, being that he represents The Harper Avery Foundation and 51% of the Board, but he wants it…and he wants to know where each one of them stands on the issue and most importantly he wants them to know the what, why, how and especially the for whom this is being done.

Onward and upward, he's not looking forward to the next task for the simple reason that it makes him feel like a douche – it's something that he should have done when he saw how much it hurt April but at that moment in time a tiny part of himself reveled in her misery, he was just so angry with her for what he perceived as her scorn. He couldn't measure up to the high levels required to be an equal partner in her life, he was only good enough to be her sex buddy – or so he felt that was how she viewed him – so he decided to show her that someone else wanted him, desperately so and to the extent of practically worshipping him. Someone she had set him up with, someone so easy that he never had to expand an ounce of effort on her, someone with whom he would never know the lows that April was capable of bringing him down too, but also with whom he never experienced any of the wonderful highs. Physically he was just scratching an itch and because he hated that he had become THAT Attending he consciously decided not to BE that Attending. So he continued to 'see' Stephanie and he convinced himself that he was a good man. But through it all he missed her, they were so physically in tune to each other and April shed all her inhibitions when she was with him, she rocked his world whenever they came together intimately and he'd never come close, before or after her, to that euphoria. It killed him to imagine her with anyone else and after their talk his guilt knew no bounds – he'd been so successful in projecting that image of moving on from her that he'd hurt her tremendously. It was time now to step-up, and even though Matthew might not know it yet he was in for the fight of his life, he was not letting go of April, but first he had to break-up with Stephanie.

Why is it that when you look for someone you can never find them, he thought. He'd just about given up hope when he heard Alex's intern Jo talking to someone, so he stopped to listen. When he realized that it was Stephanie she was talking to, he felt relieved – finally he could get this over with. Not to be rude or to embarrass her, Jackson decided to wait out their conversation but his inadvertent eavesdropping garnered him some unexpected information.

"Yeah, so I finally managed to convince Matthew that it was nothing, he had to rush away but he'll be coming back soon and that proposal can finally happen and that dud can stop being such a thorn in my side!" words uttered with such vitriol that the voice was almost unrecognizable as Stephanie's.

"Come on Steph, that's mean, I thought you said that she was bitchin', she showed you how to run the ER, and she was an excellent teacher to both you and Shane – you even took back the dud nickname and…"

"That was before she stole my man, Jo!" Stephanie rudely interrupts, "and anyway what do you know about it, your judgment sucks, I mean Chest Peckwell Jo, really? And Jackson isn't like Peckwell or even Karev, skanks will totally try and steal him from me and that's what she is Jo, a dud and a skank" she oh so virtuously surmises, so self-absorbed that she's totally oblivious to the sleeping ass-kicking giant she's just awoken – the "don't mess with me" intern who just rearranged the pretty face of Jason Myers, the predator…

"Really Steph, you're gonna go there with me, you forget I know who's the REAL skank, I've been there from when you first started stalking him and I know everything you did, and are still doing, so you really don't want to bring up my behavior and choices," utters Jo in a low, dangerous voice but Stephanie doesn't heed the apparent warning in her words and tone. "I'm nothing like you Jo, I'm not that girl, the girl who gets pitied, the girl who's not good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or not deserving. I'm not THAT girl," she arrogantly exclaims.

A thoroughly pissed-off Jo gets right into her face and starts enumerating to Stephanie exactly how much worse she is then the girl who gets pitied, punctuating each point with a sharp finger jab to the chest. "Let's see how you're not THAT girl," she begins, verbally listing all the moves that Stephanie has pulled, trying to bag herself the attending – the influential, wealthy, gorgeous attending, grandson of the Legendary Harper Avery and more recently Chairman of the Board of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. "Firstly, you were throwing yourself at him from when we got here, although props to him for not noticing coz you were never subtle, though you did let up when she returned but you kept abreast of hospital gossip, waiting for your opening. I mean anyone could see that they were doing the horizontal mumbo just by how they looked at each other and you yourself told me that you were in that surgery when they had that lovers spat and even though they were trying to be cryptic, you obviously got that they were together," she starts.

"Second, I know you fed into the hospital gossip mill, you were even depressed that they seemed to be all over each other, all over the hospital."

"Thirdly, you befriended her even while calling her 'the dud' behind her back, ensuring that she chose you to be his 'date' to Bailey's wedding, when they were making whatever point they were making with each other – and boy were you classy, you had sex with him in the back of his car for God's sake, at a wedding where you knew she was present – you got your hooks into him good and tight, counting on his good guy persona to get him to treat you as more than just a one-time sexual encounter. You didn't give him a chance to work it out with her, even though anyone could see that they were miserable apart," physically she punctuates some of her words with air quotes.

"Next, I don't know if it was to assuage your guilt or to totally get her out of the picture, you started pushing Matthew towards her when you noticed his interest – to the extent that you got the guy to propose to her publically today, but you didn't foresee what 'Your Boyfriend' was gonna do, huh ?" Barely taking a breath in between, she jumps to her most important point, "And let's not forget how you rubbed it in her face that you were having sex with him in on-call rooms all over the hospital, knowing that she would never take him back after that, oh and by the way how many times did you two have sex at the hospital? Not even ONCE, because he stopped it, right?" she exclaims.

Stephanie is quick to interject here, "I never did that!" she utters.

"Oh, so fixing your hair and your clothes coming out of on-call rooms, essentially only when you saw her, was not your subtle cue, you forget I know how you operate Steph," responds Jo.

"She never deserved him, white bread girl trying to steal all the best black men out there, can't even leave that for us," Stephanie mumbles to herself, but Jo doesn't let up on her, "Stop talking like you're from the ghetto Steph, you're more white bread then I am and then she is," she harshly interjects.

Jackson, standing outside the staff lounge, is meanwhile struck dumb by all that he's overheard. My God, his mother was right, he just never thought that Stephanie was that intern, the one intent on bagging someone who could not only advance her career but who came from money and privilege and had the added advantage of being eye-candy. But then he never thought much at all about Stephanie or her motives, even to the extent of being clueless to her pursuit of him. It hits him in the gut – the only person who never put any labels on him was April. All his life he's been either 'Pretty Boy', 'Trust Fund Baby', 'Harper Avery's Grandson', 'Privileged Son of Famous Surgeons' or even 'Wealthy Black Man' but to April he was always just unequivocally, unconditionally her best friend. Finding out that not only has Stephanie been bad mouthing April but that she's been systematically undermining and deliberately hurting her brings out his primal instincts – he's not going to allow anyone to ever cause her another moments pain and that goes for him too. Just then his beeper goes off, Hunt just came through, it's now time to deliver….

Stephanie and Jo both pop their heads through the doorway of the Interns Lounge, but fail to see anyone there.

"I'm telling you Jo I heard a beeper, someone overheard us!" she hyperventilates.

Jo, coolly and calmly responds "It was our beepers Steph, we're all required to immediately present ourselves in the GSM foyer, let's go" she instructs.

Detouring through the ER, Jackson notices Matthew, who's obviously on the hunt for someone, either the beautiful redhead to declare himself or the conniving brunette for advice on how to declare himself to the redhead, he acerbically reflects. He tries a quick get-away but is spotted.

"Dr Avery, I've been looking all over for you!" exclaims Matthew.

Well he obviously misread that one, thinks Jackson. "What can I do for you Taylor?" he inquires.

"Well you did walk off with my fiancé over your shoulder, did you think I wouldn't be looking for you," answers Matthew.

"Your fiancé?" asks Jackson, more concerned with that title and when that could have occurred then Matthew flexing his muscles.

"No, not yet," he replies "but soon". He continues, surprising Jackson with his next words, "I want to apologize to you Dr Avery, your girlfriend explained to me that you're very protective of April, like a father figure to her and I'm sorry that I never made an attempt to get to know you, to allay any doubts you may have about my suitability as a husband and provider for her and in the absence of her father to ask you for her hand in marriage," Matthew seriously remarks.

Jackson stands there with his mouth agape, "Seriously Dude?" he asks and before he can even contemplate saying more his beeper goes off again and he just turns and walks away, leaving a very confused Matthew following in his wake like a lost puppy.

Since all staff (and one bewildered Paramedic) appear to be present in the foyer Chief Hunt, standing halfway down the staircase, begins his meeting.

"Thank you all for coming, I know you're all busy so this won't take long," he begins. "The focus of this hospital has and always will be providing the best patient care possible and along with our newly revamped ER the Board has just approved the immediate implementation of Trauma Protocol Checklists. The workstations at every bed in the ER have already been integrated with the new charting system and have since this morning been upgraded to include the New Admissions Checklist, the author and inventor of which is our very own Dr April Kepner. NAC is a vital tool in our arsenal, combating the fight against unnecessary, negligent patient death and incorporates, amongst others, the ABC's of patient care. NAC is clear-cut and unambiguous and implementation of the protocol is non-negotiable. The Board has instituted a clear zero-tolerance policy regarding non-conformance of NAC – any non-adherence to these protocols can and will result in disciplinary action towards anyone willfully ignoring these procedures and protocols. I'd like to lead you all in a round of applause for Dr Kepner, whose name will be synonymous with NAC Protocol and to whom the protocols legally belong." Once the applause has died down he continues, speaking directly to April, "Dr Kepner, the Board has unanimously agreed that the protocols belong to you totally and you have permission to share it with any other hospitals and trauma centers, " he finishes but then pulls April aside for a personal acknowledgement. Hand on her shoulder he declares "I'm proud of you soldier".

April is in shock, this emotionally laden day has turned out very strange indeed. Receiving pats on the back, handshakes and sincere congratulations from her colleagues, nurses and attendings and not so sincere felicitations from the residents, she notices the two men in her life, past and present, both watching her intently. Matthew approaches her with a definite objective, to continue where he left of earlier, he even manages to remove a tiny, square jeweler's box from his pocket, but once again he is thwarted by Dr Jackson Avery.

Jackson grabs her hand and drags her to the ER.

"Jackson, wh..at?" she stumbles.

"I have one more thing to give to you April," he replies.

"You mean, the NAC Protocols…" she disjointedly asks.

"Yeah, but all I did was present it to the Board – it was a unanimous decision to implement your protocols," he confirms, "but this" he continues switching on the light to the X-ray room adjacent to the ER nurses station, "this is for you," he whispers.

"Is that a…" she begins

"LODOX, yeah," he responds, "A …"

"Low Dose Radiation X-Ray Stat Scan, takes 13 seconds for a low exposure, high resolution, full body X-ray, provides full body anterior and lateral views and the low radiation makes imaging safer for children and pregnant women, it's a cutting edge tool in diagnostic technology – you can completely evaluate a patient for GSW's, stab wounds, crush injuries all with this one machine in JUST 13 SECONDS" she excitedly counters.

"I take it you like it," he laughs at her enthusiastic response, and proceeds to drop another bomb-shell on her, "all the budget was spent to revamp and open the ER, for you, so that you wouldn't leave GSM, so that you could practice the specialty that you love, so that you wouldn't leave me…" he softly voices, just gazing into her eyes.

April gazes back at him, stunned. She understands. He knows her so well, how important her career is to her, how important it is to her to help others but to also be the best at it – she's competitive by nature and he's always pushed her to be her best. Oh what a magnificent grand gesture but was it too little too late?

He sees the dawning of comprehension in her eyes but then they cloud over, looking at Matthew holding a different future in his hands. She has a choice to make and he's afraid that she can't get past all the hurt they've, and more specifically him, caused.

She opens her mouth to respond but both of their eyes are drawn to a terrible screeching sound from outside the ER. Jackson protectively covers her head with his arms and they both watch in horror as a bus veers into cars in the parking lot outside the hospital and flips onto its side….


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you still to all of you reading, reviewing and following this story. With all the excitement of "Real Life" Grey's Anatomy, it's been a challenge writing a past divergent AU story, especially since all attentions have been diverted to the fresh, new SL playing out on our screens. So, a special thank you to those sticking with this fic and if we have any new joiners, Welcome! So, this chapter is as chaotic as the incident it portrays and covers an array of different points of view that hopefully are not too confusing. As before all characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the superb Shonda Rhimes. Hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Trauma Queen Reigns. He watches her and she is stupendous. She is precise and controls the Emergency Room like a conductor guiding the performance of her orchestral melody to a thunderous conclusion. She does it not for the ovation, nor for the thrill – she does it for the sense of accomplishment, of completion, of finality. She is beautifully adorable, resplendent in her kind-heartedness and she is going to be his.

Kick-Ass Trauma Surgeon, such a Badass. The ER is her battlefield and she is the General that commands her troops with military-like precision, yeah, she's a soldier. He's proud of her; she's accomplished and has, through hard-learned lessons, become thorough and efficiently competent. Her triumph as a surgeon though is that she is the champion of the individual, she sees a person not as a set of symptoms nor as an organ or a surgery but a human being as a whole, someone she'll do her utmost to assist. She is breathtaking and she is going to be his.

Innovator of Trauma Protocols, my ass. Checking Airway, Breathing and Circulation is self-evident and has always been the starting point of diagnosis in a trauma situation, so where does Ms Self-Important Kepner become a leading authority on the ABC's of Trauma Protocols. Okay, so she is meticulous about how the ER is run and she does have a systematic order in dealing with trauma cases like the victims of this horrific bus accident but first and foremost she'll always be that incompetent that failed her boards at least once. She needs to stay away from Jackson or she is going to be hers – to deal with that is.

She thrives on the chaos, the rush of adrenaline, the urgency of the moment when lives hang in the balance, when everything happens at a heightened pace but also appears to take place in slow motion. That's the field of Trauma, her speciality and her calling, what she was meant to do with her life. But today surrounded by the turmoil and confusion of the bus accident, her attention is divided – the passengers from the bus take precedence but her uncertainty over the two men in her life is never far from her thoughts. Both men are equally extraordinary, one of whom she loves, but who has hurt her tremendously, the other, equally exceptional and so alike herself, who she knows will never cause her the excruciating pain of the first. Who was she going to choose, who would be hers?

Stephanie is not a happy camper. The pandemonium of the bus accident is not the only casualty of the Super Storm and apparently no back-up generator exists for the back-up generator that packed up when the inevitable power failure occurred. Ironic really that a Harper Avery controlled hospital was so busy shelling out money to upgrade the ER and Trauma Centre that basic first aid on the hospital itself elapsed. So with the advent of the power failure another crisis cropped up – Dr Robbins required all the interns, including the one's not on her rotation, to assist with the care of 'tiny humans' and the reassurance of 'tiny human makers' as she called them. Before she was hauled away to this task however, she strategically decided on a quick-1-step plan of action and before anyone, namely Jackson, could react she'd pulled a sudden catch and release on him. He never participated at all and was never even given the opportunity to push her away but to April and surrounding witnesses it looked like a swift passionate kiss shared by lovers. Swiftly walking away Stephanie gave herself a mental high-five, mission accomplished!

Jackson was livid. He knew exactly what Stephanie was up to but circumstances being what they were and time conspiring against him he hadn't had the opportunity to confront her regarding her nefarious schemes and to break-up with her. He tried to get April's attention, to clarify what she'd observed, "April, please, stop for a second, I need to explain…" he started, only to be cut short.

"What Jackson? Now's not the time," she interrupted, but then predictably she overrode herself and continued, " What kind of game have you been playing with me all day today? Or was having something real just too much for you to handle? No, it's me right, you don't want me but at the same time you don't want to let me go, your comfortable best-friend, moving on and becoming someone else's best friend, not being available to you anymore" she rambled on, caustic but adorable at the same time. She continued answering her own internal questions, mumbling more to herself then speaking to him, "So stupid, why did I assume that you were breaking up with her to be with me" she scathingly mocked herself. "Anyway, I have to get these patients inside" she continued, calling out to her Paramedic boyfriend for help, "Matthew, please move these non-critical patients into the Trauma Centre immediately, I need to see who we still have to triage" she very firmly instructed.

Matthew may have been slow on the uptake but he was by no means dense. He realized that he'd been played by Stephanie and that April, while not outright lying to him, had deliberately withheld the one-time status and obvious seriousness of her past relationship with Jackson Avery. He played the dunce for Avery, all the while highlighting to the man and to his own girlfriend that the guy was in a relationship and had a steady girlfriend. He even embraced the ridiculous by asking Avery in all seriousness for April's hand in marriage, not that his play garnered any response. After being used by Stephanie he had no interest in furthering her cause but necessity required that he 'dance with the devil' so he learnt the song. He was not giving up on April and Avery was in for the fight of his life. He consoled himself with the assurance that all indicators pointed to him being ahead in the polls, encouraged by April's reaction to that kiss just now, her moral compass would never allow her to be 'the other woman' in a love triangle. He was determined that by the end of the storm she would be sporting a ring on a very relevant finger…

"Hurry, hurry," April shouted to the doctors and nurses still removing passengers from the bus, "I smell gas," she continued, a note of panic creeping into her voice.

"There's a fuel leak somewhere," responded Jackson trying to focus solely on the emergency but so angry with April, Stephanie and yes mainly himself. He thought he'd made major strides with April but was back to square one and all because he hadn't gotten rid of the viper in his life after promising himself that he would not allow her to hurt April, not even one more time.

"This thing is a ticking time bomb!" exclaimed Hunt to Jackson as they were removing the last woman from the bus.

"Yeah," Jackson countered "do you smell that, there's gas everywhere" he retorted when suddenly the rescued woman grabbed his arm.

"My daughter, she's three, have you seen her, is she okay?" she stuttered, worriedly begging for a response. Concentrating on her injuries and not knowing how to respond Jackson remains silent. "She's wearing pink high-tops, her name is Evelyn and I call her Evie," the woman fearfully stammers, her mother's instinct on high alert.

"Everyone's inside ma'am, I'm sure that she's there" Hunt explains.

Not acknowledging the Chief's words the woman continues gazing at Jackson, her eyes subconsciously pleading for him to physically confirm the little girl's safety.

Jackson nods his head – he'll find Evie.

April is beside herself; her heart is thumping wildly, an uneasy feeling threatening to choke her. Matthew is in the Trauma Centre and she just saw Jackson helping to remove the last passenger from the bus a minute ago, she was just being ridiculous, everyone was fine. She notices Hunt & Torres approaching with a gurney carrying the last patient and looking behind them sees nothing.

"Where's Jackson?" she yells to them, struggling to be heard above the storm, rain and disaster.

"Right behind us" booms Callie.

"No he's not!" she anxiously calls back. Jackson, her heart stutters, she has to find him.

Jackson notices a solitary pink high-top, abandoned and listing to one side. The little girl, he realizes, is not with the others in the Trauma Centre. He looks around, walks behind the bus and glances through a makeshift crawlspace caused by the bending and breaking of the exterior metal bus frame and there she is, all curled up in the corner wearing one neon pink high-top sneaker.

"Hey, your name is Evie right?" he questions in a soothing tone of voice. She appears to be frozen with fear but he needs her to come to him – he'll never get through the tiny opening and the bus is about to blow up, so he goes about trying to convince her. "I like your shoes Evie, those are very cool. Bet you can run pretty fast in those huh? Hey you wanna race, I bet I can beat you! Come on just grab my hand, we can go right now, come on, here just take my hand" he cajoles. Seeing that his coaxing is not having the desired results he's about to try and push through the child-sized hole when two simultaneous events freeze his movements. Evie reaches out to him and over the sound of the rain and fire he hears the most awful, pain-filled screams piercing the air and he knows it's her – April is bellowing his name, complete agony resounding in every syllable she gutturally utters. Since Evie is still too far into the belly of the bus he pushes himself a portion of the way through, wrenching his shoulder in the process. Gaining a hold on Evie he grasps her fully and makes a run for it, all the while chanting to her but not to her "I'm coming April, I'm coming…" He's a bit far off behind the broken hunk of metal that was once a vehicle, peering through the rain, smoke and broken windows of the bus when he glimpses her in the distance – April is running towards the burning bus! Her name resounds heartbreakingly into the air around him, unaware that he's the one screaming it and he watches paralyzed as an explosion rants the night sky, lifting her high and flinging her body like a lifeless doll…


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: As always thank you for your continuing interest in this story, hope it's living up to your expectations. Apologies too for the late update. This chapter concentrates mostly on the aftermath of the bus capsize during the Super Storm, but as was previewed at the end of the last chapter the story diverts significantly here. All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the splendid Shonda Rhimes. Hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

He sprints through smoke and debris not even noticing pieces of flaming bus falling all around him. He is numb to physical pain but his heart and mind both rend with agony. His life keeps flashing before his eyes – April, his slight of frame, petite April, being lifted as if by a giant unseen hand and flung into the night sky, yeah April is his life. His training as a physician must surely have subconsciously kicked in, he cradles little Evie in the crook of his right arm, shielding her from the wreckage all around, while his left arm, which when it happened felt wrenched from its socket, now hangs uselessly at his side. His eyes water and he knows it's not entirely fire and smoke related. Barely seconds have passed since he witnessed April running towards the exploding bus and his subsequent mad dash to reach her, but as he looks around for her the altered landscape indicates a slow-motioned march to an unbearable eternity without her.

Since the deafening sounds of the detonation have receded, hospital personnel start emerging from the Trauma Centre like a colony of ants foraging for food. Jackson hands the little girl over to the first person he spots – he has kept his promise to the mother but now necessity requires that he keep his promise to himself. Loving April as he does, not only his happiness but his very survival is contingent upon hers, he must keep her safe. He is filled with terror as he searches for her. Yes, she was in the vicinity of the bus as it exploded but the propulsion of the blast clearly thrust her away and not towards the inferno. He spins around, eyes peeled, searching, trying to spot the beckoning beacon that is her red hair.

In a trembling voice he shouts out for her, "April!…April?" followed by a louder roar, "April, NO…NO!" when in the adjoining brush he spots, just as he did with little Evie, a white sneaker resembling the one April was wearing, only this time the athletic shoe is attached to a foot and almost completely covered by a pair of navy blue scrub pants. He rushes to her side but he is not the only one that has been hunting for her and both Matthew and him skid to a halt on either side of her crumpled, unconscious form. His quivering right hand searches for a pulse and he breathes a sigh of relief, it's faint and thready but there. Matthew is in the meantime examining her for injuries and they both note the big slash on her forehead gushing blood, running down the side of her face and onto her neck and chest. She looks like she's been in a war-zone, covered as she is in scrapes and gashes and on her arms there's some very definite shrapnel-like wounds which have shards of bus still embedded into her skin. Added to that her arms and legs have vicious red blotches which could only have been caused by the extreme heat of the fire, but thankfully the burns appear to be only superficial. The most worrying aspect to Jackson though is that she has not regained consciousness yet.

Still pumped up on adrenaline from not only the explosive incident but also the anxiousness of April's condition, Jackson painfully lifts her into his arms and attempts to carry her to the Emergency Room, but Matthew is having none of it.

"Look man, let me have her, we'll take her inside and get her checked out by Chief Hunt. You should get yourself seen to as well, that arm doesn't look good," Matthew softly tries to convince him, but Jackson has decided that April will not be leaving his arms ever again.

"Get out of my way Taylor, I need to have her seen to immediately!" he angrily exclaims. "Page Dr. Shepherd straightaway, he is required in the ER now!" he yells to a nurse in the immediate vicinity, while trying to shift past Matthew with his precious burden lying ever so still in his arms."Do you feel like you have to be the big man, Taylor, you feel threatened by me?" he accuses when Matthew stonewalls him, refusing to budge from his path.

"No, I don't feel threatened by you, I'm trying to save April's life" hisses Matthew.

"Great, so am I" acknowledges Jackson.

"Okay look Avery I don't have a problem with you man, but she is my responsibility now" utters Matthew coolly and calmly, pointedly glancing at April's right hand where her ring finger unmistakably sports a bauble that was not there previously.

Even though his heart stutters in shock, with adrenaline still coursing through his system, Jackson pushes past Matthew and strides swiftly towards the ER, gently easing April down onto the first available gurney he finds. Unable to critically analyze her injuries without breaking down and bawling like a bitch-baby he just gazes down at her, tenderly cupping her cheek with his uninjured right hand. Her wound, he notices, continues to seep and extremely pale as she normally is, now she appears paler still. He suddenly hisses in pain as he feels a hand land on his wounded shoulder and he swiftly pivots on the ball of one foot ready to pummel Matthew Taylor into the ground, even if only with one undamaged fist.

"Check yourself before you wreck yourself Avery" scolds Callie, stopping his momentum by catching hold of his fist in the palms of her hands.

"Sorry, I thought you were…" he starts only to be rudely interrupted by her once again.

"Let's go…next cubicle….chop, chop, come on Jackson I don't have all day" she focuses her attention on his shoulder and collar bones, which while extremely painful are thankfully not broken.

Jackson pulls away from her grasp and returns to April's bedside. He gently lifts her hand to his lips and places a soft kiss on her palm, observing that her ring finger on that hand is occupied but choosing to ignore that tit bit until she regains consciousness.

"I appreciate your concern, Torres," he replies to Callie but focuses on April. "But I'm not going anywhere – I need someone to check up on April. Where the hell is Shepherd, he needs to do a CAT scan at once" he gruffly commands. "Why isn't she waking up yet Torres?"he follows up with a whisper, brokenly, not really expecting a response from her or anyone so he's surprised when someone answers.

"Meredith's in surgery, she had the baby – a boy, healthy – but she started haemorrhaging, Bailey's operating and for obvious reasons I've pulled Derek and Cristina from working" replies Hunt to his first question – where the hell did he appear from ? He instantaneously answers himself when he notices the Paramedic, April's apparent fiancé and his rival for her affections, hovering behind the Chief – so that's where he disappeared to, he realizes.

Owen continues speaking while at the same time examining April, trying to diagnose the severity of her blackout, "What was she thinking running towards a burning bus on the verge of exploding?" he supposes. "And what about you Avery, crazy stunt – but you saved that little girl" he acknowledges. "Go with Torres, let her fix that arm of yours. I am already down two people, electricity is out, the generator is barely functioning, a bus just exploded in front of this hospital, this storm is causing havoc all over Seattle and I'm expecting an over capacity ER, so please just go get checked out, I could really use you" he implores.

"But Chief, April…I need to…" Jackson begins at the same time that Matthew pipes up "What about my fiancée Chief Hunt?"

"She's not your fiancée!" exclaims Jackson at the same time that Matthew interjects "Why hasn't April woken up yet Dr Hunt?" completely ignoring the angry surgeon.

Owen's brows lift so high that they almost seem to disappear beneath his hairline and like spectators at a tennis match he and Callie glance between the two men as they serve and volley, both participants glaring daggers at each other. It appears that a stalemate has been reached, deuce, score tied – April is engaged to one but ran towards an exploding bus, literally, for the other. To the victor go the spoils but the sleeping beauty must first awaken before her champion can lay claim to her.

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><p><strong>AN: So guys (not Guys and Dolls, lol) but guys as in "Hey Guys, my friends" :-) this chapter was going to be quite a long one so what I decided to do was separate them so instead of 1 long one we're going to have 2 shorter ones. The good news about that is that, barring complications, I'll hopefully be able to update the next chapter by tomorrow. Thank you so much for following this story guys ;-)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry guys – Time Management, my Nemesis ;-) & also the work that pays the bills has been a hard task master. Thank you for your support of this story and for those of you that were anxiously awaiting the update, a thousand apologies. So this chapter is an immediate continuation of chapter 5, so close in fact it's an extension of the last conversation and we have nuggets of canon moments (with a twist, lol) interspersed within the AU Story Line. Hope that you enjoy it. Disclaimer as always: All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the marvelous Shonda Rhimes.**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

It's very easy to see why Dr Owen Hunt is the Chief – he is a natural born leader. In his authoritarian voice he demands attention and having had command over soldiers in his former military career, dealing with obstinate surgeons is child's play, especially since a large number of the time these well heeled doctors behave like children. Now was one such a time. Owen stopped the impending fisticuffs by sending each combatant to their respective corners, brooking no refusal of his orders.

"Dr Torres take Avery here into the next cubicle and set his shoulder" he instructed Callie.

"Avery go with Torres and I don't want to hear another word. In fact after Callie's attended to your injuries I want you to rest up while the Trauma Centre is still fairly manageable, once the situation changes I'll have someone come get you" he commands.

Turning to the paramedic to give him his own instruction he is prevented from doing so by the strident sound of Matthew's pager going off.

"Mr Taylor," he addresses Matthew "I see that you're required elsewhere. We'll see you when we see you then" he dismisses the paramedic.

Both Matthew and Jackson don't give up easily though and simultaneously they both just questioningly speak her name, "April?"

"I'm personally taking Dr Kepner to the Lodox – looks like she'll be the first recipient of the 13 second X-Ray, and we'll plan a course of action from the resulting prognosis" Owen calmly answers both men, knowing that the only way to get results is by giving them the facts straight out. Both men reluctantly stir but a game of one-upmanship ensues and they bump heads as they both lean down on either side of April to give her a peck on the cheek, at least Matthew does, Jackson aims straight for her lips. Scowling at them Matthew strides away and Jackson reluctantly follows Callie while Dr Hunt transports April a few feet away, to the Lodox.

Matthew fumes internally at the turn of events – Avery's become a huge pain in his behind, a stumbling block in his plan to woo April, starting with him F-ing up the most romantic proposal he had planned. April would have loved, he knew, him declaring himself for EVERYONE to see and for her to reciprocate, for EVERYONE to see. He knew it was wrong the way he got the ring onto her finger but all's fair in love and war right? She had been so busy in the ER before she ran outside once again, for whatever reason, and he'd just pulled the ring out, grabbed her right hand, which thankfully was not gloved, and taking a page out of Avery's book just straight out gave her no choice in the matter. She did protest though that the timing was inappropriate and was at the point of removing the ring and handing it back to him when patient drama diverted her attention. The expression on her face though…so he knew what he had to do, desperate times called for desperate measures. Before heading out he made a quick stop at the Pediatric Floor, Stephanie should know that her boyfriend had been seriously injured.

"So you and Kepner hey? Serious cojones Avery, removing her from her own proposal! So who is she with? Why is Matthew all like 'stay away from my woman' and she has a ring. Are the two of you fighting for her?" Callie excitedly springs into action. It's a good thing that her actions are just as swift as her words, she has him bandaged before he can even attempt to formulate an answer, not that he would say anything, his mind is occupied with April. He has to know why she hasn't woken up yet. Just as he's about to push past Callie, Hunt enters the cubicle with some answers for him.

"Scrapes, bruises and minor burns and the one deep cut on her forehead, which is getting stitched up as we speak but thankfully no abnormality on the brain, there's really no reason for her to be unconscious still" explains Hunt in his calm, soothing tone of voice. "Before you go off Avery I had Shepherd look at the films, the worst that it could be is a concussion, she's very lucky. Shepherd thinks that maybe the trauma or what she witnessed is keeping her under and as soon as she's ready to face it she'll wake up" he further clarifies, knowing that Jackson is agonized, as he would be if it was Cristina that was hurt.

Jackson nods his head at Hunt, acknowledgement for keeping him appraised of the situation but before he can do more than think about going to April's bedside they hear her heartbreaking screams once again. He moves to run to her but is savagely yanked back by Callie, who is attempting to tie a sling over his bandaged shoulder. The best he can manage to do at the moment is calling out to her – Dr Calliope Torres is one strong woman and attempting to flee her would undoubtedly put him flat on his arse and embarrassed to boot.

"JACKSON… JACKSON… NOOO, NOOO…" April brokenly sobs, twisting and turning on the hospital cot, trying to get away from the hands restraining her. Jackson is dead, her mind screams to her – there was smoke and fire and a shadow just before the huge explosion and she remembers that she had to get to him, she had to protect him, she had to save him for her. Is she so numb with grief that she's hearing his voice, calling out to her that he's here, that he's all right? She pushes the orderly, nurse and Dr Hunt out of her way as they all three try to stop her when the latter enters the cubicle that she's in – Owen's lips are moving but the words coming out of his mouth are just white noise to her, she has to find Jackson.

She finds him on her third try and rushes into his cubicle and to hell with it, he thinks, pulling away from Callie, he has to hold her, she's alive, he's alive. April's in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably into his chest, unmindful of his injuries, oblivious of her own. He kisses the top of her head, once, twice murmuring words of comfort, engulfing her with his one good arm, soothing her by running his right hand up and down her back.

They remain that way for a few moments until April abruptly pushes herself away from him and before he can pull her back into his body she starts pummeling his chest whispering, "You… could have died, you could have died," her motions and her voice escalating in time with each other.

He tolerates it for a little bit letting her expel her pain and fear before grabbing her pounding fist into his right hand pacifying her once again with his actions and his words, "I'm here April, I'm here" and just as casual as you please he softly sighs "I love you".

She hesitates for the barest second before she reciprocates, "I love you".

He gazes into her eyes and brushes his thumb over her bottom lip and she knows what he's asking for. She lifts her hands to his cheeks ready to pull him down to her lips when her gaze settles on something shiny on his face and realization sets in – it's a ring on her finger and her finger on his face. Attuned as he always is to her little nuances he notices the shift in her gaze and when her glance returns to his, hers questioningly, he shrugs and replies with a smirk, "Don't look at me, I'd get you a rock!"

Recalling exactly how and who forced the ring onto her, she smacks him on the chest and chastises him by just the utterance of his name, "Jackson!" she scolds but then the ridiculousness of the situation strikes them both at the same time and they burst into laughter as of old, when they were just friends and everything was hilarious.

But after, he has to ask "So you said yes to him?"

"No, no I didn't!" she hastens to reassure him, "He sort of ambushed me, kind of like you've been doing to me the whole day, today… and then you were near an exploding bus – don't ever do that to me again by the way, and then I was unconscious and then here I am, so I haven't had the time or the opportunity to return the ring" she explains and rambles on simultaneously.

"And don't you ever run towards exploding busses…or cars… or planes or… just anything, April! You scared me to death. I never want to go through that ever again!" he vociferously implores.

In a gesture redolent with solemnity he reverses the age old gesture of joining in holy matrimony, by slowly and gently sliding the ring off her finger.

Aware of the significance of the gesture April reaches up and clasps his face tenderly between her hands once again, "I want you…Jackson, I want YOU" she reverently utters. "We haven't been fair to each other, we've hurt each other and before that bus exploded, when I thought that you were gone, that I had lost you…" she tremblingly voices, recalling the agony she felt then and even now at just the idea of losing him forever.

Leaning down he rests his forehead on hers. "I want YOU, April!" he responds and seals his proclamation with the lightest brushing of his lips against the softness of hers but as is always the case with them even the lightest touch sparks an inferno of want and feeling and they attack each other's lips with such vigor that they feel scorched by the heat.

The curtain to the cubicle is violently thrown open causing them to spring apart and bringing to Jackson's attention that for all her nosiness Callie is really the most thoughtful person – she left the cubicle the moment April entered it and even pulled the curtain closed affording them a modicum of privacy in the midst of the bustling ER. But not so Chief Hunt, who very rudely interrupted them.

"Dr Kepner, you need to be in recovery and with the concussion you sustained you're going to need to be monitored at least every hour to see that there's no lasting damage" Hunt dictates.

"But Chief…" begins April, ready to defend her excellent prognosis when she's cut off and by Jackson of all people.

"I'll see to it Hunt, I'll keep a close eye on her" he seriously acknowledges, ready for the task.

"But Jackson, what about your hand? You need to be monitored too!"exclaims April about to get into it with Chief Hunt for not ordering that Jackson be put onto bed-rest too.

"Avery, I thought I gave you orders to rest it up. Get April to her cot, assign someone to wake her every hour to confirm that there's no lasting damage from the concussion and you get some sleep too" orders Hunt.

"Will do Chief," responds Jackson to Hunt before he leaves, very kindly closing the curtain behind him – the Chief is no fool.

Used to lifting her with one arm and overriding her protests, Jackson does just that – he carries April over to the bed in the cubicle he's been residing in and gently deposits her there and knowing her as he does he stops the protests forming on her lips by keeping them occupied. Bemused, she watches as he rounds the bed and gets in on the other side so that she's facing his uninjured shoulder. It's a hospital bed so it's a tight squeeze but the necessary closeness is one of the reasons that they both love the intimacy of it all. They've never really slept together, literally slept together, so this is a momentous occasion for both of them, almost as much as them both admitting their feelings for each other. Jackson sets the alarm on his watch then reaches out and pulls April onto his uninjured right shoulder, whispering a soft good night and promising to wake her in an hour's time. He kisses her softly on the lips and tucks her in, she's exactly where he's wanted her all along, in his arms.

Stephanie rushes down from the Newborn Infant Unit on the Pediatric floor to the Emergency Room, looking for Jackson. She finally gets an answer from an on-call nurse and approaches a curtained-off cubicle in the ER, feeling a lump in her throat she pushes through the curtain and gazes upon the slumbering couple folded into each other's arms….


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you once again loyal supporters and for those reviewing my heartfelt gratitude, you motivate and inspire me. Apologies for the late update once again, especially to those who have asked (I totally understand the anticipation, having been on the receiving end of waiting and I heartily apologize for the delay) but since this is an important chapter I didn't want to rush it and thereby overlook anything. So here's hoping that you enjoy it. Please note that all characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the spectacular Shonda Rhimes.**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

"Wow, you look…"

"No, don't say I look…"

"…like a train-wreck!" he joked. "But I can see where it's going."

Four times he'd woken her up with a gentle kiss followed by a severe grilling and one time she woke him up with a much more passionate kiss then either of their injuries allowed for. The same conversation four times in the last five hours, no deviation from the script, well except for the endearments, he was pretty creative with those and also the number of fingers he held up to test if she was experiencing blurred or double vision. After they had been asleep for one hour she was roused by a tender kiss and a litany of questions.

"April, wake up sweetheart. Are you up? How's your head? Do you know where you are, what happened? Any nausea? Dizziness? Do you feel drowsy? How many fingers am I holding up?" he questioned.

"Pounding. At the Hospital…bus explosion. Yes. Don't know still asleep. Still asleep. Two," she countered, peeking out at him from between her fingers at the last question. The time after that he held up three fingers, but in a strange configuration, followed thereafter by two and then three once more but in odd combinations yet again. He really was adorable trying to fake her out.

Four times she had been gently awakened, questioned and immediately lulled back to sleep but the fifth time she stirred before his alarm could beep. Her head was so much better, she realized, just a dull throbbing, no longer a pulsating jackhammer. She turned her head slightly gazing at him whilst he slept – the magnetic pull to him was as always ever present but slightly muted without the intensity of his electrifying gaze. Staring at him you realize that he is all strength, all male, especially with the facial scruff he sported but in that moment of repose his vulnerability was apparent. Almost losing her had jarred him about as much as thinking that she had lost him had shaken her, and that fear had sparked neurons to create pathways that led straight to their emotions. Neither was afraid to declare themselves anymore – they loved and were loved in return. As she lay there sharing that single pillow with him she recalled the hand gestures he had been using earlier and her unfogged mind clearing she smiled introspectively to herself, gave the softest sigh and leaned towards him, intent on rousing him and reassuring herself that their togetherness was not a dream.

The kiss started off as a soft peck on his lips but escalated swiftly into a passionate duel of lips, tongues and teeth. She pulled back for a moment wondering if perhaps he was unaware of whom he was kissing, a tiny ache in her heart at the thought of him being with another woman and being woken up in this delicious manner. But he soon disabused her of this notion.

"Mmhmm April, don't stop" he murmured and smiling down at him she very enthusiastically got back to the job at hand. Stopping this time was simply a matter of the necessity for breath, which Jackson didn't seem to need much off as he continued kissing down her neck while she attempted a similar conversation to the ones he had begun four times previously.

"How's your hand…and your head? Are you in pain, any side effects? How many fingers am I holding up?" she jokingly paraphrased his earlier asks. She held up her right hand with three prominent fingers extended – thumb, index and little finger and with her middle and ring fingers folded in. Jackson snorted out a laugh, realizing that she was totally fine and that she had caught on to his earlier teasing. He copied her gesture and they both grinned goofily, fools in love he thought.

"Do you remember when I taught you this?" she softly enquired, signing three words with her right hand, the first being index and middle finger extended flowing seamlessly into the second gesture which both of them had just used and finally the third sign of only the index and little finger extended.

"Of course babe, when Alex's African babies came here for treatment and you learnt Swahili and sign language to communicate with the kids," he grinningly responded.

"And all you learnt was 'Peace', 'Love' and 'Rock on'. That's what you were signing earlier, right? Although I haven't seen you use 'Love' on its own before today, and you signed it twice" she coyly jabbered, earning her an adoring grin in response.

"That's because I love you twice more than Rock and Roll and World Peace," he lightheartedly rejoined, spelling out the 'I love you', slowly this time. Little finger for an 'I', then index and thumb forming the letter 'L' and finally little finger and thumb forming a 'U'. He was so grateful, not only for having her alive and well and in his life, but also thankful for the recovery of their friendship. They hadn't been this comfortable with each other since their split and he mentally vowed to himself to never knowingly lose their camaraderie ever again. So in that vein he joked about her looking like a train-wreck, watching as she exasperatedly shook her head at him before chuckling delightfully. "See even train tracks," he added gently running his right thumb over the stitches on her forehead before leaning over and tenderly caressing over each thread with soft lips.

Used as he was to her segue from one topic to the next – they more often than not had a commonality –he was still utterly surprised by her next question.

"Why were you kissing Stephanie outside the ER?"

Stephanie paced up and down the deserted corridor, wringing her hands. Jo was busy so she had no one to reassure her, not that Jo would, seeing that she called her out on all her crap during their last conversation, but she desperately needed someone to talk to. Her brain was functioning at super speed and she was at her wits end trying to figure out a solution, she needed to rescue the situation, return it to the status quo, to before Hurricane Kepner, to when she still had a foothold into the Avery dynasty. She actually admired her own restraint when she saw them asleep earlier when all she wanted to do was confirm that Kepner was a natural redhead… by pulling out each and every strand on her head…from the root and by hand. But even in her rage she knew that confronting them would just end up with her being the loser. She had to play this smart not hard. She was human though and although she started out with a hidden agenda she had developed feelings for Jackson and a part of her felt hurt and betrayed. Perhaps she was wrong she thought, maybe it was just comfort between Jackson and April and of course fear of losing a best friend. She vacillated between these opposing thoughts, wondering if she was possibly deluding herself and so decided to take a peek into that ER cubicle once more. Knowledge is power, she reasoned and armed with actual data instead of speculation was always the best option. She gently parted the curtain this time instead of violently pulling it aside as she had done previously but the outcome was the same – the occupants were oblivious to her presence. The difference however was that this time they were definitely awake and in a torrid embrace, he'd never kissed HER with that degree of emotion and passion. For the second time she stealthily walked away but witnessing their intimacy somehow reaffirmed her resolve, she was going to have to bring forth all the ammunition in her arsenal, she was going to pull this out of the fire.

"She actually kissed me. I've been trying to break up with her today and outside the ER she caught me unawares, but I definitely did not return the kiss. I meant what I said to you April," Jackson cautiously explained.

"Why haven't you broken up with her then?" April warily inquired of him.

"I know this may sound bad, but after what I found out about her and indirectly me and you, I just put her out of my mind and instead concentrated on us, between saving lives of course," he clarified.

"About us?" she asks, confused.

"Kind of," Jackson replies.

"What happened?" April poses the question.

"I'll tell you about it as soon as you tell me you're okay," Jackson whispers leaning in once again and peppering her lips with butterfly kisses.

"Totally fine," she chimes, almost breathless but coherent.

"I've actually been wanting to tell you since I overheard them talking and not because it's about us but because I've always counted on you to give it to me straight. I've missed you and I've missed us and how we were before I ruined it," he states quite matter of fact.

"We both were at fault Jackson," she softly but quite forcefully insists. No shrinking violet here, she adorably gives him her most serious look and demands "Spill it!" and he does.

Not only does he tell her everything he overheard but he confirms that Jo's theory about his reason for being with Stephanie was quite valid, except there's two other reasons too which he shares with her.

"I was hurt and feeling rejected so I guess being with her was thumbing my nose at you, mature huh?" he disparages himself, and gazing deep into her eyes he spots a flicker, knowing that deep down his words have wounded her and he deeply regrets his actions. "In my more lucid moments I realized too that whilst you felt guilty for betraying your vows to remain celibate, I was guilty of something much worse – I treated you as a sex object and never as a girlfriend or lover. So I decided to become a better man and I tried to show her the respect that I wish that I had shown to you!" He remains quiet for seconds after these revelations, afraid to see the pain and disappointment in her eyes but April surprises him yet again. She snuggles closer to him and busses kisses all over his face.

"That was actually very grown-up Jackson, very anti-Alex behavior, I'm actually quite proud of you and maybe just a little disappointed that it was with her and not me," she remarks but continues along his similar line of thought. "We've hurt each other so much, Jackson, but we've been given a second chance. Either of us…both of us…could have died tonight and I don't want to have to live without you or die having left things unfinished between us. So let's make a pact right this second, we'll always be honest with each other, always communicate and as of now forgive and move on, okay?" she thoughtfully supplicates to him.

Jackson nods his acquiescence before kissing her once again – she continually amazes him with the enormous capacity of her heart and he is just so thankful to be on the receiving end of that spectrum. He settles her more comfortably in his arms and just starts talking, about everything that he has wanted to share with her since their alienation from each other and as he expects she listens intently and provides the no-nonsense honest feedback that is her trademark and that he has been missing all these months. He is fearlessly vulnerable to her – he acknowledges his apprehensions and inadequacies in his new role on the hospital board and his dissatisfaction with the minimal amount of time he has to be a surgeon. He abhors having to be 'Hall Monitor' to the qualified group of world renowned surgeons who behave like children the majority of the time but when she tells him that he is holding the hospital together he feels like a Titan and all is right in his world. He laughs quietly to himself and when April asks the reason for his mirth he responds by explaining that her verbal diarrhea is catching as he cannot seem to stop talking. She smiles a Madonna-like smile with her prominent dimples flashing, agreeing that they have loads to catch up on. They become so immersed in each other that for that infinitesimal amount of time they are the only two people present in an oasis surrounded by white noise.

Reality intrudes. April had just arisen from the hospital cot with the idea of going to the attending lounge and utilizing the attached shower there, when the curtain to the cubicle was pulled open by Dr Hunt.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, how are you feeling Dr Kepner? Avery? Both good?" he enquired, mechanically and barely waited for their affirmative responses before he jumped to the reason for his interruption. "I know that you both should be home resting but I'm going to ask if I can count on your assistance, we have a bunch of trauma's coming in, some diverted from Seattle Pres. The storm has apparently caused mud slides all over and aside from civilian casualties we have firefighters and cops also hurt during the evacuations. I wouldn't ask but I really need you both," he apologetically requested.

"No problem, Chief," April responds.

"Of course, Hunt," Jackson replies simultaneously.

"I appreciate it you two. The ambulances are still a way out – trying to get to hospitals during the storm has been challenging, so you have about 15-20 minutes to get cleaned up and grab a bite, it's going to be another long shift," Owen allows before turning to go, leaving them alone in the cubicle once again.

"Jackson, I know now's not the time but we have to discuss this," April begins as soon as they're returned to their privacy.

"What is it babe?" Jackson asks, immediately attentive.

"We have to keep this…us…a secret," she gesticulates between the two of them, "at least until after you break-up with Stephanie and I return Matthew's ring," she further clarifies.

"Wait, what? No!" he retorts, ready to defend his arguments for their being together but April interrupts him with her softly voiced statement.

"Matthew doesn't deserve this and neither does Stephanie," she insists. "And how do we explain to others that we destroyed two perfectly lovely people so that we could…what, date?"

"Okay, best solution is never to speak to any of them ever again," he jestingly voices.

Gazing incredulously at him, April scrunches her nose and retorts, "Or…?"

"Or…I break-up with them," Jackson rejoins, this time in all seriousness.

"Wait, what? Jackson give me back the ring and I'll return it to Matthew and you take care of the messy intern…errh the intern mess, the Stephanie situation – breaking-up with Stephanie, you know what I mean," she exasperatedly reacts.

"I'll take care of both, the intern and the paramedic. What he did, forcing the ring on you wasn't right but I also wasn't fair to the guy, I kinda ruined his proposal and I'll apologize to him for that," he assures her. "I promise not to punch his lights out, okay?" he adds, both of them recalling the time he lit into Alex for hurting her, a pummeling so bad that he had to replace Owen and Cristina's brand new coffee table. He pulls her closer ready to use his own brand of charm to get her to acquiesce because even though she's aware of his 'Avery Sparkle' (a term coined by the late Mark Sloan) she is immune to his this form of manipulation but not to his sincere and very real attraction to her, which he shows her by his all-encompassing, all-consuming kisses. Knowing that they cannot and will not be together until their respective liaisons are terminated, she takes her time in allowing him to convince her and a full five of their allotted twenty minutes is spent in the oblivion of each other's arms.

Stephanie unexpectedly bumps into them at the Trauma Bay, the venue of her humiliation as she sees it and even though Jackson's attention seems to be on Kepner they aren't standing together. Bolstered by this apparent estrangement she approaches Jackson with the idea of creating friction between them and hopefully the emergence of the green-eyed monster that is Dr April Kepner. Noting the lengths that Jackson has been willing to go to for April, Stephanie knows that the only strategy available to her is for April to reject Jackson, any other way will not have him back down, and the only way that April will reject Jackson is if he seems to want to be with someone else. Well the theory was foolproof once, she reckons and she really has to get Matthew to fire up the guilt – if nothing else April was predictably soft-hearted and Stephanie was not above using that to her advantage.

"Hey, what happened to you? You've been hurt!" Stephanie exclaims with sham surprise, trying to reach up to clasp Jackson's face, to bring his lips within kissing distance.

He turns his face to the side, deliberately away. "Stephanie, we need to talk," he acknowledges to her but Stephanie is given a reprieve by the first of the ambulances pulling into the bay. "Later," he tacks on.

"All right, let's do it!" he announces to all doctors and nurses assembled out there ready to assist the trauma casualties. "Help me get this sling off," he requests of none other than Dr Kepner and whilst to others it appears that all she is doing is assisting him, Stephanie notices the affectionate exasperation on April's face and looking closely the audacious wink to her from Jackson. So she's down, Stephanie thinks to herself but they shouldn't discount her, she's far from out.

She knows that they were on separate cases but the next time she sees them they are once again together, Kepner behind the counter of the nurse's station and Jackson in front of it updating a patient chart, the both of them discussing Dr Webber's critical condition after being electrocuted. She overhears Jackson discussing with April how the news has affected his mother and watches as he reaches for her hand, which she unhesitatingly clasps, entwining their fingers. Both are unmindful of the two people watching them, she from the front, just behind Jackson and Matthew quite a distance behind April. Matthew is evidently still in the dark about the pair and from his vantage point it looks like a casual conversation between two colleagues, he clearly is unable to observe their expressions, their gazing into each other's eyes and the tight grip that they have on each other's hands. Jackson asks April to assist with his firefighter patient as the interns have been removed from service due to Heather's death – freakishly as a result of her hitting her head when she got electrocuted, same as Dr Webber. While Kepner commiserates with him over the loss – she really is too soft-hearted to be a surgeon – Stephanie scoffs to herself and spotting her opportunity moves in for the kill. Although she and Heather Brooks were never really close, Stephanie is quite prepared to embellish their friendship to the extent of garnering sympathy from the man in front of her and in so doing creating a chasm between him and the redhead. She moves in on them, bringing on the water-works (thank God Jo taught her how to fake cry) and diving into Jackson's arms, calling out his name in a tortured-sounding sob. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that April was the one to pull away from Jackson before she pounced and she notices too that Jackson doesn't pull her into a comforting embrace. He actually starts to push her away, calling her name out warningly but amazingly, to Stephanie at least, April's chastising calling of his name stops him. It is in that moment that Stephanie truly comprehends that she has lost, that she was in fact never in the running to begin with. Two things however keep her from making it easy for them, pure vindictiveness and no small measure of self-delusion.

April notices that Jackson is uncomfortable and just wants to blurt out everything to Stephanie, his very nature abhors subterfuge and he is quick to call out dishonesty, deception and injustice. He is the most noble of men and his integrity, personal and professional, has always drawn her to him, especially when they were just friends. She has always been able to rely on his total honesty with her, it's also why their break-up hurt her so much – he had to have seen characteristics in her that did not please him, she thought and although he admitted to her that fear of being hurt again is what held him back, a small part of her was plagued with uncertainty – was it audacious of her to think that she deserved to have such a resplendent specimen of character and honor enthralled with insecure, 'no-filter' her ? April turns to walk away from a weeping Stephanie being consoled by a clearly uncomfortable Jackson but catching his eye she aligns her fingers to sign 'Love' which he smilingly reciprocates.

Jackson watches her walk away, there was something in her eyes…As much as she knows him, he knows her too. He gently pushes Stephanie away from him, glances down at her and murmurs, "I'm sorry."

He moves away ready to go after April, remembering the promise he made to himself to never hurt her again and just before he reaches the double doors leading out of the wing, he turns halfway around and calls out to Stephanie, "By the way I heard you and Jo talking earlier and while I'm sorry if you think I gave you false hope about us, that was never going to happen. And I never want to hear you malign the woman I love ever again. Got it," he finishes and not even waiting for acknowledgement from a shocked Stephanie he dashes away to find his April.

He spots her halfway up the foyer steps. With the storm still going strong it's a busy day at Grey Sloan Memorial and the foyer and adjacent waiting area are filled to capacity but Jackson barely pauses in his headlong dash to get to her and from the foot of the staircase he loudly calls out her name hearing the echo rebound. She turns around, surprised. He has to let her and the world know how he feels about her…

"I love you, April, I always have. I love everything about you, even the things I don't like…I love. And I want you with me. I love you and I think that you love me too. Do you?"

Once the initial shock has worn off – she never really pictured Jackson as being the type for huge declarations – she darts down the remainder of the stairs and straight into his arms, where he lifts her up and twirls her around, his injury forgotten by her and the twinges there from not even hindering him in his movements. She whispers a soft "Yes" and he kisses her passionately, to thunderous applause. Blushing, she leans her forehead against his, muttering, "Not very becoming of an Avery!" to which he just snorts out a laugh. Out of the corner of her eye April notices some movement towards them and leaping out of Jackson's arms she informs him of the presence, "Your Mother, it's your mother!" she chimes.

Catherine Avery reaches them just as Jackson puts his arms around April pulling her forward.

"So I understand congratulations are in order…"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you so much for your patience. So what I have done here guys is I completed the story with this chapter. I hope that the conclusion delights you. For myself it has been an intense pleasure writing this work of fiction and it gratifies me immensely to have received such positive feedback from all of you reading and reviewing. I would love to hear your analysis of this chapter and the story overall so please do not let the fact that this is the final chapter deter you from reviewing. In my limited experience I have discovered that reviews assist not only as a critique but also contributes towards story progression (and subsequent story ideas), if not through constructive criticism then in a fresh perspective or even the spark of a different idea. **

**To four very special friends (Joss, Carina, Hilly and recent addition Nipuni) who have been a constant and consistent source of friendship, motivation and ideas, love you guys…**

**Disclaimer as always: All characters belong to Grey's Anatomy and the iconic Shonda Rhimes. **

**To all readers, you have been great throughout this journey and my sincere appreciation for YOUR appreciation. Until next time…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

Catherine Avery, complex, intuitive woman – strong, black single mother, matriarch of the Avery Dynasty who keeps her finger firmly on the pulse of all things Avery and most especially the Avery heir. She gazes at the couple in front of her, her observant eye immediately detecting the protective nature of his embrace and the very public display of affection. PDA's have never been Jackson's modus operandi – he in fact tended to shy away from any demonstrative exhibitions, was neither an imposer nor, walled up as he was, an allowing recipient. His ease both towards April and the glaring reality of her presence provides Catherine with an inkling of the true value Jackson places on her in his life and not to mention, the grand declaration that she, and what seemed like half of Seattle, had just been privy to.

Kept abreast by Owen Hunt, Catherine was fully aware of the bus explosion and the resultant chaos that ensued. This was followed not long after by a worrying phone-call from Jackson, calmingly trying to explain the prognosis of Richard Webber, former chief and her intimate companion, after he had been electrocuted. Either incident on its own merit would have necessitated her immediate presence but both occurring within the space of a few hours of each other incited instantaneous action, resulting in her having The Foundation Jet fired up for the swiftest excursion from Boston to Seattle.

Jackson had the foresight to direct the three of them, himself included, to an empty conference room where he informed her that Richard was at that very moment undergoing surgery and while Catherine's dominant personality, and heart, insisted that she be there, her cool head overrode that sentiment – she would burn that bridge when she got to it. Both her son and his lady love sported injuries so transparent that even someone without her trained eye or mother's intuition would have detected them. So she reached out to both, Jackson first. She clasps his face and with an expressive moue on her own she quickly examines him for obvious injuries. As expected he pulls away from her, murmuring that he's fine. She turns to April and clasping her chin in her hand notices immediately the line of stitches on her right brow and surprisingly, to Catherine at least, April leans into her hand, seeming to need that mother's reassuring touch.

"April sweetheart, I'm glad that you're okay and while I can see that you don't need the gynecological fellow we spoke of when I was here last, you still look way too uptight baby. Still not getting L-A-I-D, or has Jackson been too busy with interns to take care of you," she unrepentantly inquired.

"Dr Avery!"

"Mom!"

"What, babies?" she responds to their chastisements, unapologetic.

"I thought you stopped face-booking my mom," whispers Jackson from the corner of his mouth to April, who is still sputtering at Catherine's audaciousness – it's obviously an Avery trait, although much more toned down in Jackson.

"You told me to un-friend her, I DID!" counters April in a hushed undertone.

"She's toxic, she's a meddler, my mom has no boundaries – be warned."

Having previously encountered meddlesome, boundary-less Catherine Avery, her statements are not what shock April, her tacit approval of April while at the same time disapproval of Jackson's seemingly wishy-washy behavior is what boggles her mind. But wait, does that not imply that she has no faith in Jackson's judgement and by extension his choice of her? As usual, the conundrum that is Catherine Avery strikes again, leaving a trail of confusion in her wake.

"Oh don't blame her. I may not be Dr Miranda Bailey but I DO know everything, everything that goes on in an Avery Hospital," grumbles Catherine, proving once again that her auditory capabilities are well above par.

"Okay mom…the thing with Stephanie…it's between April and me…I don't need to explain anything to you…" rambles Jackson, looking down at the floor whilst rubbing the back of his neck. It seemed that this one bad decision, which situation he had been tolerating so as to never be the indecisive douche-bag, was going to be biting him in the arse for a long time to come.

"What were you thinking, Jackson? You are aware that you're on the board of this hospital, as well as an Avery! And what of your friendship with April, does she deserve this type of transient behavior from you?" questions Catherine. She knows "insensitive jerk" is not who she raised her son to be and she actually admires the man he has become, she is proud that he had the stones to stand up and ask for true love. Being Catherine Avery, however, meant that she would never tell him that and although Jackson was now a grown-ass man who would smell the reverse psychology she regularly pulled on him when he was younger, old tried and trusted methods were hard to break. She also figured that the only way he would totally appreciate this relationship was if he had to defend it and counteract her seeming disapproval – two birds, one stone.

"This relationship is not new, mom, the decision to be together is not rash, you only feel that way because you didn't get to weigh in on it," Jackson fumes.

"Because you didn't include me in it, like everything else in your life," snaps Catherine.

"I don't need to include you…you include yourself in everything, always," he retorts, vibrating with resentment.

"Stop it, stop it!" exclaims April.

"April sweetheart don't…"starts Catherine, only to be overridden by the diminutive red-head.

"You're right. There are a lot of things we still haven't figured out, but we WILL figure them out, Jackson and I. We love each other and I'm sorry that our relationship came as such a shock. I was shocked – I can't imagine what you must be feeling. Actually I can…I can imagine it because I…"

"You know what babe, don't, you don't have to apologize to her," interrupts Jackson.

"I do! WE do, Jackson. We hurt each other and in coming to terms with our feelings we hurt others and keeping the knowledge of us from your mother has hurt her too," she responds to him and turning to face Catherine she addresses her, "I am so sorry…I promise I'm going to make it up to you."

Facing Jackson once again she entreats him, "Apologize to your mom…go on, please."

Jackson, concurring with the logic of her argument and with no small amount of self-irony comprehends that he is entirely whipped by the petite woman he loves. He walks over to stand in front of Catherine ready for this act of contrition.

She swats him on the right shoulder, noticing his wince of pain, "What the hell were you thinking?" she poses, referencing his declaration of not even half an hour before.

"I love her, mom…and I am sorry…but I love her. She's the one," he unhesitatingly declares.

Catherine is more than delighted. Two birds, one stone – well more like three birds, because now she has April obligated to her too.

Beneath the tumultuous eye of Hurricane Catherine "The Nazi" became little itty-bitty Dr Bailey. Miranda was outsmarted and out-gunned, no match for the fury of Catherine Avery on the warpath. Discovering that Bailey had forged ahead with the surgery while Richard's stats indicated an extremely high degree of cardiac compromise raised Catherine's ire by no small degree. She stormed up to the observation room overlooking OR 1 and via intercom ordered both Hunt and Bailey to immediately cease and desist the surgery. Strong as Richard was, the trauma he suffered caused his heart to experience cardiogenic shock and Bailey's certainty and resultant search for the presence of internal necrosis caused by the electrocution, was jeopardizing his life. Catherine was not above terrorizing the Grey Sloan Doctors to accept her edict. Being an Urologist did not preclude her being less knowledgeable about other organs in the body, why the family she had married into was freaking Cardiac Royalty. The respect she demanded, however, was based solely on her knowledge and proficiency and especially in medical situations, rarely dependent on the Avery name.

Concurrently, in another part of the hospital, more bad news was being imparted by another Avery. Knowing April's strict adherence to absolute professionalism in the workplace, Jackson had been meticulous in maintaining a polite discourse throughout the surgery of their patient with Necrotizing Fasciitis, a severe case of flesh-eating bacteria, and to his credit the majority of his attention was centered on Sasha, their firefighter patient. Recalling the tanker explosion of just weeks prior, when the death of her patient had affected April so heartbreakingly, Jackson regretted pulling her into this case, knowing the outcome would be no different. Small consolation though was that they would impart the news to the firefighter couple together.

"So we were able to remove all of the necrotic tissue but the labs suggest that your organs are beginning to fail," Jackson started, directing the words to Sasha with the underlying message to Brian, her fiancé.

"Is there anything that you can do?" questioned Brian immediately.

"Well we're giving you some powerful antibiotics and we're hoping that that stops the process, but…" interjected April, answering Brian's question but directing her response to Sasha. Her heart ached for the couple.

"But I might not make it…" countered Sasha, sighing in resignation, having her worst fears confirmed.

"We are going to do everything that we possibly can," Jackson re-iterated, but even with the subtle doctor-speak the message was clear, Sasha was slowly running out of time.

"Brian…" Sasha prompted him, motioning towards the surgeons.

"We want to get married now, right now! No matter what happens we want to be married. We need a Chaplain,"Brian implored the unsuspecting doctors, surprising them with his request. The firefighters had obviously discussed this worst case scenario and their only alternative was to be together till the end, in a true union of love.

"Come on, what about Hassan? He's out at the pile too; you realize they all can't be out at the pile. No, I don't care what religion they are, just give me something, anybody that can officiate this. Yeah, as a member of the board I'm gonna say you want to stay away from phrases like 'even a Catholic'. Yeah alright, just call me back." Unhappy with the lack of results, Jackson ends his telephone conversation when he notices Catherine's swift strides carrying her towards him.

"How is Richard?" he inquires.

"Hanging on by a thread. Thank you very much!" Her tone clearly indicates the opposite of gratefulness.

"You going to scream at me too now? Heard you already had a go at Hunt and Bailey," Jackson chastises.

"I just want to know what in God's name was going on through your head…" She is all Catherine Avery in that moment – using a canon to kill a mosquito, over the top but effective!

"Stop!" Jackson disrupts her impassioned rebuke. "You are terrified, I get that…you love him and you are scared as you have ever been. Marching through this hospital telling everybody that they are incompetent is not going to fix that situation. We are all doing our best and we are going to take good care of him…and we are going to take good care of you, okay?" he tries to reassure her but at the same time standing his ground. Grey Sloan Hospital is not only HIS Hospital it's also a first-rate facility and where he has made his home, although, to be fair Home is wherever April is, he would follow her anywhere.

"As soon as he's stable," continues Catherine, "as soon as the storm passes…I'm going to move him to another hospital." Nodding her head and barely acknowledging the exasperation on Jackson's face, she continues on in her quest to obtain the best possible care, temporary though that may be, for Richard while simultaneously intimidating the hospital staff – two birds, one stone.

On his way to Meredith's room to give her a heads-up on the metaphorical scalping his mother was inflicting, Jackson comes upon the unlikely duo of exes, he's and April's. Admittedly Matthew is unaware that he is an ex, but Jackson plans to remedy his misconception immediately by retiring his bauble of metal back to him. Reaching into his coat pocket he removes the ring he appropriated earlier from April's finger and approaches the Paramedic.

"Taylor, wait up, I have something for you," Jackson ambles up to Matthew, holding out the engagement ring to return.

"Avery, you shouldn't have and I'm sorry to break it to you but I'm already spoken for," Matthew smirks, clapping a hand onto Jackson's injured shoulder in a show of deceptive camaraderie.

"Very funny, man. I promised April that I would return this to you and apologize from both of us about how this went down. April's made her choice," Jackson calmly and stoically explains, inwardly wincing at the pain radiating from his shoulder but unwilling to give Matthew the satisfaction of a reaction. It's a pissing contest Matthew's after he realizes and Jackson is ready to stake his claim.

"Well now Avery, you see I don't believe you…April wants this – marriage, family, us. Let me put it in terms you'll understand, I liked it so I put a ring on it. I should put a dent in that pretty face of yours, Avery, your selfish, dog in the manger attitude ruined the perfect proposal. But I get it, good looking guy, practically own the hospital, who wouldn't be flattered. I am, nonetheless, not going to back down. You've got a fight on your hands, Avery."

"You really don't know her at all if you think money and looks drive her, she's not Stephanie, and you're massively delusional if you think that was the perfect way to propose to her, giving her no choice and in front of a mob,"Jackson responds to Matthew's assertions, shaking his head in incredulity.

Stephanie, who had been quietly observing the standoff, snorts out a breath and retreats in a huff, how did she land up as the ammunition in this shootout? Monitoring the two foes it becomes apparent to her that Matthew has brought a knife to a gunfight.

Matthew experiences a moment of doubt at hearing the conviction in Jackson's voice and betrays his misgivings by the slightest flicker of his eyelids. He disguises it with calculated arrogance.

"Whatever, Avery. At least she knows I want her and only her and that I'm willing to put myself out there for her." He takes the potshot and cockily saunters off, his demeanor reflecting no weakness. Jackson is left digesting Matthew's parting shot. Matthew figuratively flexed his muscles then literally swaggered off, leaving Jackson in his wake with mouth agape and hand outstretched with a ring on it.

Finally entering Meredith's room, Jackson discovers April there.

"There are no Chaplains anywhere in the building, everyone is out dealing with storm victims," April answers, responding to his raised eyebrow.

"We have storm victims right here. What...? Chaplains are supposed to stay here!" he retorts.

"I…."

"Anybody seen my patient Brian? Firefighter…busted ribs…?"Alex appears in the doorway, questioning the occupants of the room.

"Yeah, he's getting married," April positively re-affirms.

"Not without a Chaplain he's not…" this from Jackson.

"Well, I could go online and get certified by that place on the internet…but me and weddings today…I don't think I'm the best choice!" April laughingly rejoins, casting a sideway glance at Jackson.

He bravely accepts the gauntlet she's just flung at him and retorts with his favorite slogan, "I'll just do it!" he quotes Nike, an accompaniment to the wink he gives her.

"Brian, Sasha, your commitment to each other is an inspiration. Your love, your devotion, it's unwavering. You aren't swayed by anything that life puts in your path. When people talk about marriage this is exactly what they ought to have in mind."

Internet certified, Jackson begins the ceremony. Occupying the room are the couple he is in the process of marrying and the exquisitely fascinating creature that has entranced him. As co-officiator April has 'dressed' for the occasion by styling an intricate braid as a crown on her forehead with tendrils on the side, ostensibly to cover the stitches on her forehead. Gazing deeply into her dazzling eyes, Jackson utters those heartfelt sentiments to both Brian and Sasha and for April and himself too. Preoccupied as Brian and Sasha are with each other, they notice that Jackson's attention is consumed by the red-haired surgeon and when, with brightly blushing cheeks, April swats him on his chest to get his attention focused, the couple just laugh. Bittersweet though their ceremony is they cannot help but feel joy at witnessing the loving ease that the surgeon couple have for each other, it speaks to the depth of their emotions as well as the comfort of their friendship. They are inspiring, the epitome of love.

On the verge of continuing the ceremony, the foursome are interrupted by the appearance of Hassan, back from the trenches and ready to officiate. Jackson gladly hands over the reins and both he and April step out of the limelight, now merely witnesses to the union presided by Hassan. Moved by emotion Jackson wraps April into his arms, not surprised when she leans contentedly into him her back against his chest and her head resting comfortably into the crook of his shoulder. Professionalism be damned, she's always been sentimental at weddings.

"That's what it's supposed to look like you know. They can't even imagine not being together," he whispers in her ear, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Yeah," she acknowledges her voice slightly gruff with feeling. Turning her head to the side, resting it more securely against his shoulder she reaches up to him cupping his cheek in her right hand, loving the stubble. Gazing lovingly into her bright, tear-drenched eyes, he leans down and kisses her.

"Marry me, April?" he proposes, striking her dumb with his words. Smiling at her shock he softly remarks "Who knew it would be this easy to get you to shut-up!"

Snapping her jaws shut, she sniggers at his joke and lightly smacks him on the chest. "Oh you!" she exclaims ignoring his earlier ask and treating the whole thing as a gag.

"I mean it, you know…because you're right about everything. I don't want to just date April, I want the whole damn thing!" he explains, pulling a ring out of his jacket pocket.

"Jackson!" she exclaims in a whisper, subconsciously aware of the ceremony she doesn't want to disrupt, but too immersed in their own drama to stop. "That's Matthew's ring!" she hisses at him.

"Oh sorry, wrong pocket," he laughs, removing a different spectacular diamond-studded band from his other pocket.

"What…how…when…?" she stutters, not sure which question to address first. Why does he still have Matthew's ring? When did he decide to propose? How did he get that ring? WHEN did he get that ring?

"Do you want to get into that right now?" he asks

"No…" she mumbles, much more invested in his question then his answers.

"No, you don't want to get into that or no, you don't want to get married?" he smilingly supposes.

"Yes…YES!" she rejoices, turning fully around and launching herself into his arms.

"Thank God!" he mumbles, between kisses.

"Interesting relationship you got going on with God, for an Atheist" she remarks, also between kisses, forgetting where they are for the moment.

Hassan loudly clears his throat to get their attention – he's surrounded by kissing couples, one of which he has just married. "So, am I marrying you two or not?" he inquires.

"YES!"

"Mer, you're not going to believe what I just witnessed!" Cristina barges into Meredith's hospital room, unmindful of the interns and the council that Meredith is imparting to them. "Pretty Boy and Virgin Mary just got hitched!"

"What?" yells Meredith.

"Yeah, Avery and Kepner just got married," she smirks, openly laughing as Intern Stephanie runs out of the room sobbing.

"Cristina…" chastises Meredith.

"What? Now how was I supposed to pretend that what just happened wasn't the coolest thing I'd ever seen," Cristina mocks.

"Cristina…"

"No, I've always been on the fence about Kepner but now I'm not just a friend, I'm a fan!"

Stephanie cannot believe that after everything he put her through these past two days, he still managed to humiliate her above and beyond that, a final nail in the coffin as it were – he actually married the bitch! Intent on wallowing in self-pity she still somehow manages to observe two things: from her right Matthew approaching the nurse's station that she's seated at, and on her left she spies the happy couple slipping into an on-call room. Well misery loves company she consoles herself and directs Matthew onto her same path to Heartbreakville.

"Jackson…I don't want to spend my wedding night making love in an on-call room," April admonishes her husband, in between kisses.

"Babe, we agreed to stay at the hospital tonight for Sasha, right? So, no, we won't have our wedding night here, okay? I just want to hold my beautiful wife for a while, nothing more I promise."

As has always been the case with them, however, their kisses grow more heated and very quickly escalate into heavy petting. Soon and without any protest both find themselves naked from the waist up. April is on his lap and Jackson is kissing his way down her neck to her exquisite breasts and just as his mouth finds her nipple, the door to the on-call room bursts open.

"April!" thunders Matthew, shocked at the scene before him.

"Matthew…" stutters April , wrapping her arms firmly around Jackson's neck and pushing her body up closer to him – it's the only way she can think of to hide her chest from Matthew's view.

"Avery, what the hell? Way to fight dirty man!" Matthew addresses Jackson.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way Matthew," April responds giving Jackson an admonishing look, "but Jackson and I are married."

"Yes, April is my wife," Jackson acknowledges and reaching into his nearby coat pocket he once again removes Matthew's ring and holds it out to him. "I'm sorry, man, for the way we handled this – you were just collateral damage."

Matthew has no choice this time but to take the ring from him. Angry and devastated he storms out of the room, almost bumping into a passing Cristina.

Regretting the hurt she's caused, April just leans her forehead on her husbands, accepting his comfort.

"Hi," he jokes, "hope we didn't go through all that for nothing."

"Hey!" she smacks him gently across his uninjured shoulder.

The door is thrust open once more and the couple inside groan simultaneously, they just can't catch a break.

"Kepner, you continue to surprise me!" smirks Cristina.

"It's Avery…"


End file.
